ASCENT

ASCII Successor with Compatible Encoding of Named Text

Keep every classic ASCII byte sacred. Ascend the rest without burning the stairs.

ASCENT Nexus v4.0.0 Delay Hull architecture card · PNG · JPG · live

What it is

ASCENT is a wire encoding and control grammar for text, agents, multimodal references, quantum-safe control envelopes, and deep-space ECC profiles. It is a future-facing successor spirit to classic 7-bit ASCII (ANSI X3.4 / 1963):

Pillar	Contract
Eternal identity	Every byte less than `0x80` is classic ASCII, bit-identical, forever
Agent-native	Fenced control tokens (`ROLE`, `TOOL`, `THINK`, ...) share the stream with prose
Multimodal	Content-addressed refs and length-declared media units (no surrogate-pair hacks)
Quantum-safe control	Append-only algorithm registry; no silent downgrade
Deep-space (ASCENT-D)	Outer ECC frames; parity fail erases the unit (no mojibake)
SkyPulse (PATHHINT)	LEO path foresight for usable session bandwidth; fail-closed skip; not an RF Mbps upgrade
Self-describing	A valid document can carry plane maps, registries, and version history

This is not "Unicode but better." It is a stream contract greppers can still trust.

Live

https://ascent.jonbailey.xyz/

ASCENT Nexus Wire Lab 4.0 Delay Hull (architecture card v4.0.0): dual text/hex live sync, command palette, mission HUD, stream timeline, agent + multimodal composers, SkyPulse PATHHINT panel (LEO-IP vs D), Delay Hull contact window (one request ADU, one response ADU), ASCENT-D bit-error / erase-on-fail simulator, AEGIR sketch, interactive eleven-plane explorer, 2-minute tour, SPEC try-this, and codegen. Dual-mode Grok+Starlink plan (CLOUD / EDGE / QUEUE) with usable session bandwidth honesty. Sacred P0 meter and Hello, Universe sample included. The delay panel is sim. It is not interactive Grok and it does not raise RF Mbps.

Follow: @suddenlyjon

Surface	Version
Nexus site / architecture card	4.0.0
SPEC	1.0.0-rc1 (+ SkyPulse appendix)
Frozen Cont packing (ASCENT-V)	Cont `0xA0-0xBF` (5-bit)
Python package (PyPI)	ascent-wire 2.2.0
JS package (npm)	ascent-wire 2.2.0

Quick start

Browser

Open the live site and click Decode Hello, Universe.

Python reference decoder

python ref/ascent_decode.py --self-test
python ref/ascent_decode.py --hello
python ref/ascent_decode.py examples/hello-universe.ascent.bin --json

Golden tests (shared codec)

# from repo root
set PYTHONPATH=ref
python tests/test_ascent_codec.py

Shared library: ref/ascent_codec.py (ASCENT-7, frozen ASCENT-V, UTF-8 MM bridge). Lab non-ASCII modes on the live site: ASCENT-V / UTF-8 bridge / ASCENT-7 reject.

ASCENT-D + real satellite lab (ISS)

P9 outer frame with RS(255,223), erase-on-fail. Uses public Celestrak ISS TLE and a LEO BER channel model. No RF transmit.

set PYTHONPATH=ref
python tests/test_ascent_d_satellite.py

Module: ref/ascent_d.py.

SkyPulse PATHHINT (usable session bandwidth)

Fail-closed path hint for Starlink-class IP. Improves usable session bandwidth and continuity under LEO. Does not raise RF Mbps. Not a bare "bandwidth upgrade."

set PYTHONPATH=ref
python tests/test_skypulse.py
python -m ascent pathhint --profile ASCENT-E-LEO
python examples/ascent_starlink_client/daemon.py --pathhint

Docs: docs/SKYPULSE.md. Profile note: ASCENT-E-LEO (light CRC or short RS, no full P9 on interactive IP) vs ASCENT-D (spool/deep-space). Ship order: SPEC appendix + goldens + wire 2.1.0, then Wire Lab, then publish codec, LeoAware later. Delay Hull (2.2.0) is the contact-window cut on top of that. See docs/DELAY-HULL.md.

AEGIR (ASCENT-native encryption companion)

AEGIR is a first-class P7 encryption suite: dual-core hybrid KEM (ML-KEM + X25519), History-Bound Outer Pad, agent-fenced ceremony (ROLE/CAP), Ghost Continuum IMS seals, and append-only registry (no silent downgrade). Design: design/AEGIR.md. Registry seeds: SPEC.md C.3.3.

set PYTHONPATH=ref
python ref/aegir_sketch.py --self-test
python ref/aegir_sketch.py --list-algs
python tests/test_aegir.py
# optional DCH-768 (requires: pip install kyber-py)
python ref/aegir_sketch.py --self-test

Parse law

if byte < 0x80:
    emit classic 7-bit ASCII (width 1)
    never recombine into a multi-byte unit
else:
    enter ASCENT extension grammar

Overlong encodings of 0x00-0x7F are illegal forever.

Hello, Universe (132 bytes)

One valid ASCENT-E stream:

Greppable header ASCENT/1.0
Human text Hello, Universe.
Agent frame ROLE=guide
Multimodal REF with SHA-256 binding

Agent frame alone:

9A C1 01 00 02 00 00 06 05 67 75 69 64 65 9B

Full hex map: SPEC.md section E.

Profiles

Profile	Role
`ASCENT-7`	Pure classic ASCII identity
`ASCENT-E`	Earth / general interchange
`ASCENT-E-LEO`	Usage of E: PATHHINT + light integrity on LEO IP
`ASCENT-D`	Deep-space outer ECC
`ASCENT-A`	Archive / self-description heavy

Install (Python package)

Full guide: INSTALL.md · PyPI: https://pypi.org/project/ascent-wire/

pip install ascent-wire
ascent self-test
ascent encode --header --role guide "Hello, Universe."
python -m ascent hello

Package name: ascent-wire (import ascent). Requires Python 3.10+. Optional: pip install "ascent-wire[deep-space]".

Golden lock (JS must match Python)

set PYTHONPATH=ref
python tests/test_ascent_codec.py
node tests/run_js_lock.js
python tests/test_js_python_lock.py
python tests/test_skypulse.py

Agent loops

See docs/AGENT-LOOP.md for ROLE/TOOL/THINK/SAFETY recipes and docs/SPEC-FREEZE-1.0-RC.md for the 1.0-RC freeze checklist.

Repository layout

SPEC.md                 Normative draft (sections A-F)
ABSTRACT.md             One-page abstract
ascent/                 Installable package (ascent-wire)
pyproject.toml          Packaging
docs/                   Infographic, SkyPulse, agent-loop, SPEC freeze RC
ref/ascent_decode.py    Earth-profile reference decoder
ref/ascent_skypulse.py  PATHHINT policy + LEO-IP vs D integrity
ref/aegir_sketch.py     AEGIR encrypt/decrypt sketch (DEMO + optional DCH-768)
examples/               Canonical .bin samples (incl. skypulse-pathhint)
site/public/            Live Nexus Wire Lab 4.0 Delay Hull (Cloudflare Pages)
tests/                  Python goldens + JS lock
design/                 Non-normative design provenance (incl. AEGIR)
assets/masters/         Source OG + infographic masters

File	Purpose
SPEC.md	Full normative draft
ABSTRACT.md	RFC-style one-pager
docs/ascent-infographic.png	Architecture infographic v4.0.0 Delay Hull
docs/SKYPULSE.md	SkyPulse PATHHINT what/why/non-claims
docs/GROK-ASCENT-STARLINK-ARCHITECTURE.md	Grok over ASCENT over Starlink design package
docs/ORBITSTACK-LEOAWARE-BRIDGE.md	How LeoAware should consume PATHHINT
docs/ascent-starlink-interface.png	Horizontal ASCENT x Starlink interface map (2400x1100)
examples/ascent_starlink_client/	Dual-mode CLI skeleton (cloud / edge / queue)
docs/AGENT-LOOP.md	LLM agent loop guide
docs/ENCODING-GUARD.md	LONG overlong / non-minimal reject
docs/SPEC-FREEZE-1.0-RC.md	1.0-RC freeze checklist
ref/ascent_decode.py	Python decoder
ref/aegir_sketch.py	AEGIR encryption sketch
design/AEGIR.md	AEGIR companion design (full)
examples/hello-universe.ascent.bin	Sample stream
examples/agent-loop-demo.ascent.bin	Multi-frame agent sample
examples/hello-universe-aegir.ascent.bin	Encrypted Hello (AEGIR-DEMO)

License

MIT - see LICENSE.

Support

GitHub Issues only. No personal contact required.

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ASCENT

What it is

Live

Quick start

Browser

Python reference decoder

Golden tests (shared codec)

ASCENT-D + real satellite lab (ISS)

SkyPulse PATHHINT (usable session bandwidth)

AEGIR (ASCENT-native encryption companion)

Parse law

Hello, Universe (132 bytes)

Profiles

Install (Python package)

Golden lock (JS must match Python)

Agent loops

Repository layout

License

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Name		Name	Last commit message	Last commit date
.github/workflows		.github/workflows
ascent		ascent
assets/masters		assets/masters
design		design
docs		docs
examples		examples
packages/ascent-js		packages/ascent-js
ref		ref
scripts		scripts
site		site
tests		tests
.gitignore		.gitignore
ABSTRACT.md		ABSTRACT.md
INSTALL.md		INSTALL.md
LICENSE		LICENSE
README.md		README.md
SPEC.md		SPEC.md
pyproject.toml		pyproject.toml

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ASCENT

What it is

Live

Quick start

Browser

Python reference decoder

Golden tests (shared codec)

ASCENT-D + real satellite lab (ISS)

SkyPulse PATHHINT (usable session bandwidth)

AEGIR (ASCENT-native encryption companion)

Parse law

Hello, Universe (132 bytes)

Profiles

Install (Python package)

Golden lock (JS must match Python)

Agent loops

Repository layout

License

Support

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